At a new sports bar concept from Marriott, High Velocity at the Atlanta Marriott
Marquis, the goal of designers was to
make a “contemporary, gender-neutral”
sports bar, Von Ertfelda explains, a goal that
resonates throughout the Marriott sports
bar realm as a means to increase traffic.

The bar, the first of its kind from Marriott,
took the place of the Champions concept at
the hotel. Gone was the dark, wood-heavy
area with memorabilia hanging on the walls
and small TVs above the center bar, replaced by a light, open area with projection
screens, flat-screen TVs and cozy viewing areas. Liz Neiswander, principal and
hospitality interior leader for Atlanta-based
tvsdesign, explains, “It was concepted
more as a media bar, a high-energy place
where you could come together to watch
everything from the Super Bowl to the
Academy Awards.”

High Velocity came to the Atlanta Marriott as part of a public space redesign by
tvsdesign that involved two more brand-new concepts: Sear, the hotel’s three day
part restaurant and fine-dining venue, and
Pulse, the lobby bar.

Sear needed to have a functional yet
upscale feel, Neiswander explains. Located
next to Pulse (to take advantage of a shared
kitchen), Sear features an intimate bar and
a vast wine collection, so wine display became a major element of the area’s design.

And just outside of Sear lays the
“heart” of the hotel, Pulse. Building upon
the original atrium design by John Port-man, Neiswander and her team developed
an illuminated bar structure resembling a
sail that can change color or even serve as
a projection screen for TV or other images.
Because it stands in the center of the
atrium and can be approached by guests
on all sides, proper and clean bar design
was critical. “Nothing is hidden, so everything needed to be thought through,”
Neiswander says.

The bar itself “anchors the space,” in
Von Ertfelda’s words. “It’s a very distinctive
design. It’s a beacon, and I think it’s a good
example of where we want to go in terms
of our lobby design: always being distinctive and relevant.”

The inception of the BarArts initiative,
with its fresh cocktails, improved bartender service and renewed bar design, has

prompted a notable increase in sales and
traffic across all Marriott properties, Von
Ertfelda says, citing “numerable instances”
where revenue and profits have exceeded
corporate expectations. “The level of
activity in our public spaces has increased
dramatically, and the GSS (guest satisfaction scores) have gone up substantially,
both in terms of quality of food and beverage offering as well as service and overall
atmosphere,” he explains. And sales

— particularly with beverages — have been
up significantly at Champions Boston since
its opening, according to Rutigliano.

So far, it seems the team at Marriott

has succeeded in achieving its goals: to
“activate public space and to drive guest
satisfaction by providing guests with exciting drinking options on property,” according
to Von Ertfelda.

“There was a time when hotels only
offered the staid, quiet, soulless lobby
bars that were very ordinary in design,”
he said. “They ensured that our lobbies
were really just transient points versus
spaces were you would linger and enjoy
the company of friends, colleagues and
other guests.”

Luckily, at Marriott properties, those
days are gone. NCB

Desires Hotels

Boutique hotel company Desires

Hotels, headquartered in Miami
with 10 properties around the
country, initiated its “Select Your

Altitude to Accommodate Your

Attitude” program this summer
where guests choose the level
at which they’d like to party (
lounging, dining, listening to live music
or dancing in a club) and the place
they’d like to do it (terrace lounges,
restaurants or rooftop bars).

embodying modern-day muses in
New York, like a violinist on the

Brooklyn Bridge or an artist in front
of the Flatiron building. Even the
bathrooms have a quirky, Kimpton-esque twist: Each of the six unisex
restrooms features a “pick your
personality” theme that illustrates
a vice: glam, vanity, rebel, macho,
lust and envy.

Resorts Worldwide is Aloft Hotels.
Each property features the w xyz
bar, where signature cocktails,
house-made infused spirits and
evening events make the bar a
hotspot — especially its happy
hour, twilight w xyz. Every night
at 5 p.m., as the venue changes
from daytime to evening, an
oversized video wall displays rotating sunsets and colorful carriages
behind the bar open up to reveal
a backlit back bar. Twilight w
xyz features different signature
cocktails each weeknight.

Hotel Bar Hopping

A number of cutting-edge hotel companies are implementing new bar
concepts and plans designed to drive traffic, sales and guest satisfaction.

Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants
Always an F&B innovator, San
Francisco-based Kimpton, which
operates more than 50 restaurants
and nearly 50 hotels in North
America, presents its newest venture: NIOS, a regional American
restaurant and wine bar located
adjacent to The Muse New York
in the Big Apple. The venue’s wine
program is directed by Master
Sommelier Emily Wines, and Puccini Group redesigned the restaurant. The 52-seat eatery features
a marble-topped bar, offset with
beveled mirrors to resemble subway tiles. The video art pulls from
the restaurant’s namesake of the
nine muses of Greek mythology by

NYLO Hotels
All three NYLO properties
(Warwick, R.I., and Plano and Las
Colinas, Texas) feature hip bar
scenes at The Loft. Located on
the first floor, each Loft features
a restaurant, bar, game room and
more, with designer couches, a
custom bar and original artwork
that speaks to the locale. Its most
recent opening, NYLO Dallas/Las
Colinas, offers a sleek Texan vibe,
with black chandeliers shaped
like longhorns and star-covered
carpeting, tipping its hat to the
Lone Star State.

Wyndham Worldwide
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, a
brand under Parsippany, N.J.-based Wyndham Worldwide,
which offers 7,024 hotels and 11
hotel brands around the world,
soon will roll out its new core
wine and spirits menu focusing on
organic options. Also, Wyndham
is taking advantage of the trend
of lobby spaces becoming more
communal: Its new Eat. Refresh.
Live. program involves a combination café, barista and food mart,
and the café transforms from a
coffee bar by day to a cocktail bar
at night.